Ordinary diners who take part in our annual survey each spring review restaurants and leave their feedback, but we also ask them to score restaurants from 1-5 on food, service and ambience. Harden’s then uses an average of these scores and measures them against other establishments in the same price bracket to arrive at the ratings published in the guide and online.

Snippets from some of your feedback may end up in the overall Harden’s review, noticeably they appear in “double quotation marks”. The rest of our pithy, bite-sized restaurant summaries are compiled by analysing the survey data and extracting recurring themes, looking at whether or not a venue was nominated in any of our categories – like ‘favourite’ or ‘most overpriced’ – and, of course, looking at the ratings for food, service and ambience.

The Harden’s ratings indicate that a restaurant is:

exceptional very good good average poor

All reviews are compiled from survey comments and ratings, without any regard for our own personal opinions, except in cases where restaurants are too new to have been included in the survey. If you want the editors’ view on new restaurants in London you can find them in our Editors’ Review section.

Harden's Guides have been compiling reviews of the best British, Modern restaurants in Soho since 1998.

“Still doing it right after 30 years” – “this reliable old friend ain’t bust so they haven’t fixed it”. “They don’t make them like this any more!”, but if you want to see what a wine bar looked like in the 1970s, this “lively and fun” Soho venue perfectly fits the bill. It helps that “the owner, Simon, takes a personal interest”, and presides over “an extensive list of wines, many of them by the glass”; plus “a varied and well-cooked menu”.

“Simon Rogan’s development kitchen offers a unique and unforgettable experience” that’s “even better than his Claridge’s iteration”. Its secret location is revealed only on booking, with pre-payment expected (for food and wine pairings). Despite an entry level cost for the evening – wherein two chefs cook for 8 diners in a relatively small room around a chef’s table – of upwards of £200 per head, all reporters agree, it’s “an all-round exceptional performance”. On the menu: new dishes, before they are potentially served at Roganic.

This “special” Soho veteran “continues to delight and surprise”, under the Hart Bros, whose sure-handed stewardship of the property is in stark contrast to when it lost its way in the Marco Pierre White years. Despite a reformatting a year ago which left its premises “somewhat truncated” (to make space for a branch of Barrafina) the dining room remains “totally charming”. “When chef Jeremy Lee is at his best there is no comparison for simple excellence” and his “perfectly poised, thoughtful and considered” seasonal British comfort food is provided with “originality and flair” to create a culinary experience that’s “reliable without ever being predictable”… “and you also get the best martini in town”. Top Tip: breakfast: “Jeremy’s golden eggs, exquisite bread, gently roasted tomatoes...there is no better way to start the day”.

A “go-to spot in Soho” serving natural and biodynamic wines by the bottle or glass alongside a hybrid menu of “delectable” Italian-North African dishes “that let the high-quality ingredients sing for themselves”. “Super-lively on a busy night” while also “laid back and relaxed”, it’s a “great place to hang out by yourself or go on a date”. Top Tip: “the drinking vinegars [true] are delicious and must be tried”.

“Even the plainest of dining partners seems to take on a glow” at this “utterly charming” and amazingly popular veteran – a “Bohemian” old town-house which is “refreshingly constant in the chopping and changing Soho scene” and whose straightforward, notably affordable dishes are perennially “prepared with passion and care”. “For a candle-lit supper” it has few equals, as most reporters feel “the cramped conditions only add to the cosy ambience” (although not everyone is wowed by the basement). Top billing goes to the “fantastic wine” – “because of the generosity of the owner, the markups on wines are minimal and it is a very interesting list”: “anything on the blackboard deserves attention and, nearly always, consumption!”

“Who doesn’t love a button by the table that is exclusively for ordering Champagne?” And the “matchless”, fantasy-plush interior of Leonid Shutov’s lavish Soho ‘diner’ creates a “gorgeous” setting, especially “for a fun date”. Eric Chavot’s menu of “luxury staples” delivers some “pretty good food”, and – while the fact that it’s certainly “not a bargain” is a sticking point for a few reporters – most “don’t begrudge a penny”.

“An old treasure given the Nick Jones treatment… welcome back!” – this resurrected Soho landmark gets the thumbs-up from most who have visited after its swish revamp care of the Soho House group, certainly for its “handsome looks” (including the gorgeous bar). Its “initially underwhelming-looking” brasserie menu can “deliver real joy”, even if overall ratings for the cooking are rather more middling.

“Lovely…”, “fun…”, “affordable…”, “…a delight!” – this “cramped” modern wine bar in Soho is “a place to go back again and again” with its “stunning and original”, “locally sourced” food and its “handwritten Wine Journal with interesting entries and very reasonable mark ups”. “Love sitting by the bar to watch the chefs, but does get a little smokey at times!”

“Soak up the superb atmosphere and enjoy!” – with a terrace in summer, and “wonderfully welcoming interior on a cold winter day, with warm fire and subdued lighting” – this slick operation (attached to a Soho House group hotel) makes a fantastic Soho rendezvous, for business or pleasure. The brasserie cooking has historically been a bit forgettable here, but it won consistent praise this year for its “honest” results. Top Tip: “Refreshing and dangerously delicious Bloody Marys” means there’s “no better way to start a weekend than with brunch here”.

“It feels like it’s where it’s all happening ... I LOVE IT!” – so say the many fans of Jason Atherton’s Soho operation – who believe it “has it all… buzzing atmosphere, superb cuisine – food you really want to eat! – wondrous cocktail bar upstairs, and staff who buzz professionally too”. Its ratings were undercut this year, however, by a number of reporters who felt that “the food is good, but you do pay a lot for it”. Top Tip – “excellent set lunch deal”.